Well Blue Monday may actually be a long-debunked theory and the brainchild of a British travel agency in 2005, but there’s no denying January is a brutal month. Bone-numbing temperatures and post-holiday spending remorse are a cold reality.

Tomorrow have a pity party, and come Tuesday shake it off and get happy! Forget kumbaya-ing and practising mindfulness and gratitude. Those positive psychology tricks don’t work – they require ongoing effort and it’s easy to forget to do them or just quit. Much like a diet, it sucks the life out of us and the effects are short-lived.

It’s about improving your surroundings. “If you try to be happier, you’re going to fail! You’ll always fail,” says best-selling author and explorer Dan Buettner, of bluezones.com. But you can shape your environment to stack your deck in favour of happiness.

Move to Singapore, Costa Rica or Aalberg in northern Denmark – the tops three happy places in the world. Theses geographic hotspots for joy and life satisfaction offer valuable insight into getting happy, says Buettner.

He’s been happily travelling the world for National Geographic for the past 15 years – first in search of the healthiest people and now for the happiest people. His 2008 book Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest was an amazing success and recently he followed up with The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the World’s Happiest People.

“Happiness is a meaningless term – it’s really about life satisfaction, positive daily emotions and sense of purpose,” says Buettner, who specializes in finding evidence based populations that are extraordinary and using scientific methods to distill their lessons for the rest of us.

Don’t worry, be happy – when you set up the right environment, you can add life to your years and years to your life, with very little effort. “If you are among the happiest 20% of people, you live around eight years longer than the saddest.”

– Get yourself some happy friends. It boosts your happiness by about 15%.

– Hang out with people who think you’re funny.

– The happiest people socialize six to eight hours a day. No, not social media! This can be happy hour, socializing with friends and family, volunteering, playing a sport. Your job counts as long as you like your work and socializing with your colleagues.

– Reduce TV screens in your home to one. The happiest people watch TV no more than an hour a day.

– If you’re living in an unhappy city or place, move! Where you live is the most important ingredient to happiness. Medium-sized cities are ideal.

– Get a bicycle – and use it! Cycling is very highly correlated with happiness. Actually bikeable, walkable cities are almost always happier.

Also:

Live near the water if you can. Buettner splits his time between Minneapolis and Santa Barbara, his happy place.

Married people are much likelier to be happier than unmarried people so finding a loved one is worth the effort but make sure you share the same temperament. “If you’re a glum, solemn person than make sure you find a glum, solemn person.”

Eat seven servings of vegetables and fruits a day. You’re 20% likelier to be happy and you’ll lower your risk of premature death by a whopping 42%.

Put a fruit bowl on your table and fill it with your favourite fruit.

Buy a house that has a sidewalk out front. And a front porch so you see people go by and socialize.

Put up a pride shrine – “a place in your house that you put up favourite pictures, awards, and things that you walk by every day. It’ll give you a surge of joy. ”

Adopt a dog. Dog owners are happier than non dog owners, and happier than cat owners.

If you can’t get a dog, buy indoor plants for improved well-being.

Do your best to always sleep 7.5 hours a night. People who sleep six hours a night are 30% less happy than people who sleep more.

Volunteer, even if you think you don’t have the time. People who find meaningful ways to give back are happier.

Sign up for an automatic savings program. Financial security brings more happiness over the long run than consumption.

Use up your vacation time in short spurts throughout the year instead of taking one long vacation. It’s the planning and remembering that boosts happiness so the more vacations, the more planning and remembering you’ll do.

The one and only behaviour modification that works is to learn how to properly mediate. Take an intense eight to 10-week course. If you’re taught true meditation techniques you can actually rewire your brain.

How happy you are? Get diagnosed at bluezones.com and personal recommendations to improve your well-being.

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